Heebies Jeebies
by YellowTrumpets
Summary: The Trinity uncover a coffin in an abandoned ship, and of course Sora decides to open it up. He discovers a secret Ansem never wanted to get out, a secret named Vincent Valentine.
1. So It's Begun

A/N: This fits in with all my other stories that are tying in FF7 characters and giving them KH lives and personalities. So…yeah. If you want more Vincent, go read _A Time Before Nightfall. _And if you want to see where Kairi is and what she's doing while Sora's doing this, go read _When You Wish Upon a Star_, which is also Cid/Shera. Because you love Cid/Shera. And it's RuTifa. Yay.

By-the-by, this is after CoM, and the Trinity is bebopping around in a gummi ship again.

…

Heebie Jeebies 

….

"Donald! Come on!" hollered Sora, jumping actively out of his chair. Their new gummi ship had encountered a distress signal from an outdated ship that was just floating dead in space. Sora, intrepid leader that he was, had decided that they would _investigate_. Donald had objected quite loudly, stating that the ship was so old, anyone in there had probably died of hunger or asphyxiation by now. At least, Sora figured that was what he said. It was always hard to tell with Donald. Goofy had sided with Sora, mainly because the tallest member of the Trinity was feeling rather cramped inside the tiny compartment. Donald had finally acquiesced and got the ship into boarding position.

Sora exited the hatch, followed by Goofy and a still-reluctant Duck. The Keyblade Wielder drifted into the hatch of the second ship, and took a look around.

The ship was in disarray. Wires were hanging everywhere, lights were busted, and there was a thick layer of dust coating everything. Donald grimaced in distaste, and Sora snickered. The pompous bird hated getting mucked up in any way. Sora wondered why he didn't figure out some kind of keep-clean spell to use on his clothing. No, come to think of it, Sora really didn't wonder. Donald just liked having something to complain about. Not that he wasn't good at it.

Sora strolled down the hallway of the ship, whistling. He didn't know why, but the teenager felt like something was going to happen today, something _important_. It would be a welcome relief. The Trinity had been flying around for months trying to figure out the secret of Kingdom Hearts, but had found nothing at all. It had been several months since Castle Oblivion, and Sora was getting bored. If he couldn't be back with Kairi, then he might as well be doing something useful. Like saving the universe, or something _crazy_ like that.

Sora could hear Goofy and Donald whispering about something behind his back. He wasn't always completely oblivious, contrary to popular belief. Donald was still upset about being there in the first place, and Goofy was attempting to pacify him. Good old Goof.

Sora turned a corner and found a long room, illuminated by these spooky globey-thingies. It was kinda weird, but the feeling Sora had been having suddenly twisted, like a million butterflies thumping on his ribcage. He moved towards a big table in the middle of the room. Donald saw where he was going and squawked, "Now, wait just a minute, Sora!" Goofy gasped.

Sora was walking towards a large coffin.

And he would have made it over too, if he hadn't tripped over three feet of agitated canard that suddenly appeared in front of his feet.

Goofy watched as his two friends tried to untangle themselves, Donald doing so while still attempting to restrain a very curious Sora.

"Oh come on, it's just a coffin!"

"Just a coffin? Just a coffin, Sora? Sora, it's never a good idea to disturb freaky-looking coffins that usually have something BAD inside, you stupid little human!"

"Who's stupid? At least I'm wearing PANTS!"

Goofy sighed. It would be nice if the two of them could get along once in a while. He strolled around the spatting friends, too involved in their argument to even notice him. Goofy wandered over to the coffin and peered at the inscriptions carved on the top. There were some swirly circles, and some squiggly lines, and even something that looked kind of like a pair of argyle socks if you were to turn your head to one side. At the center of the coffin surface…

There was a Heartless symbol.

"Hey, guys! Oo, over here!"

Sora and Donald looked up, to see Goofy gesturing frantically at the coffin's lid. They ran up to Goofy's side and examined the symbol. Donald became even more frantic. The duck had to wonder why Sora always felt the need to rush headlong into bad situations. He also had to wonder why he and Goofy always followed Sora regardless of the danger that dumbo of a kid put them in on a near-daily basis.

And now Sora was trying to open the darned thing.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ human.

Sora had given up trying to lift the heavy lid, and was now attempting to pry the coffin open with his Keyblade. "Come one, come on, OPEN UP!"

Donald almost fell over. Well, if he was so determined to get it open, he might have better luck actually using the Keyblade to _open the lock on the coffin_. Donald waddled over to inform the young hero of this obvious fact. He had no idea why he was doing it; this was most likely going to get all three of them killed. But that was the effect Sora had on people. His enthusiasm was contagious.

Donald suddenly hit Sora upside the back of his head with his magic staff. The boy yelped. The duck looked at him scornfully. "Open the lock, poophead!"

Sora fell over. "Wow, I feel pretty dumb right now."

He quickly unlocked the coffin with the "super-awesome power of the Keyblade". There was silence, and the Trinity watched in nervousness.

An arm emerged, and then, a golden claw that made Donald squirm. A man hoisted himself out of the coffin. His black hair was long and shiny, and his aquiline face was _unbelievably_ pale. He looked around in confusion before spotting the Trinity, and his sculpted brows furrowed together.

"Where-?" he whispered, his voice creaky and hoarse with disuse. "Where am I? The last thing was…Shera…pain, told her to run, take the guns, Heartless, coming, find…Cid….no, no, Lucrecia, I'm coming…what? Light…no, who? Who are you?"

Sora looked to Donald and Goofy. _Did he just say Cid?_ Sora raised his hand. "I'm Sora, and these guys are Goofy and Donald. You're in a gummi ship. But, I guess I should ask…Who are _you_?"

The man looked down at himself, at his claw, which, now that Sora thought about it, was just like _Cloud's,_ and his face showed a tiny, mirthless smirk.

"I used to be a man. A man with a name. My name, was…Vincent Valentine."

…

A/N: Wow. Should this be a longer story, maybe? I dunno. I likes Vincent…now go and read my other KH stories. They all kind of tie together and feature basically every major FF7 characters. And Review. Please.- Rose


	2. Okay, So He's NOT a Vampire

A/N: Well, long time, no update! This one, oddly enough, is my most popular story so far, I think. Is it because of Vincent? I hope so. It would make him happy, which isn't easy, let me just say. For anybody interested, _A Time Before Nightfall, _my prequel work and baby, has copious amounts of Vincenty goodness. And Rufus, Hojo, Cid, Barrett, and even the Turks. So come on then! Read it! And for AVALANCE: The KH Remix, read _When You Wish Upon A Star_, especially for those who like Kairi. Even for those who don't, I've been told my Kairi is better than the sometimes-annoying one in the game, so give it a read anyway. It might change your mind. Ok, enough with the plugging, let's keep on trucking…yeah. Disney and Squaresoft own all.

…

So He's NOT A Vampire…

…

The Trinity was stunned into silence. Sora was the first to speak. "Vincent Valentine?"

The man nodded. Sora cocked his head to one side. "What the heck kinda name is that?"

The man had a slightly puzzled look on his face. "I…don't know," he said, still very slowly and sadly. "I suppose I never really though about it."

Sora sighed. "Well, then, Mr. Valentine, how did you end up in this freaky coffin-thingie?"

"Yeah," Donald sputtered. "Are you a Heartless or what?"

Vincent drew himself up, and a second emotion- anger- crossed his long face. "A Heartless? You think I'm one of those, those _monsters_?"

Goofy waved his hands in front of him. "Hold your horses just a minute there, sir. We don't mean no offense or nothin' like that."

Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We're just curious. I mean, come on, it is a bit suspicious that you're sleeping in a coffin with the Heartless symbol on it- wait…pale, dark hair, wears blood-red clothes, coffin…you're not a _vampire_, are you?"

Donald's eyes opened wide in panic. The duck assumed a defensive position, wand at the ready. "Foul creature!"

The man laughed mirthlessly. "Oh no, my friends, I'm no vampire. Although I am a Count. Or, at least, I was one. I'm perfectly alive, so far as I can tell."

His stomach suddenly grumbled. "And perfectly famished, as well. It seems like years since I've eaten."

Sora grinned. Here was something he could understand. "Well, then, come on. We've got food in our ship."

Donald whispered to Goofy suddenly, "Are you sure we can trust him?"

Goofy just thumped his feathered companion on the shoulder, almost toppling the bird over. "Come on, now, ya think we should worry? Sora can take care o' him if something goes wrong."

Donald nodded uneasily. "I suppose."

The two friends followed as Sora led their newest acquaintance back towards their ship. Donald was still watching the strange man, as well as his even stranger claw. The duck could sense something not quite right about him, not quite…_human._

Sora was also watching Vincent. The Wielder found it kind of weird that the man was looking at the ship like he had never been in one before. _ But if that's the case, how did he end up here?_

_Hmm…food first, questions and stories later. Sounds like a plan._

…

Half an hour later, the four were sitting on the floor of the new ship, christened _The Mickey_ by Donald, eating sandwiches that Goofy had prepared. Vincent Valentine made a curious sight, sitting cross-legged in his grand clothing, taking enormous bites of egg salad. Sora gulped down his food and waited for the others to finish. When they had, he turned to the…un-vampire in front of him.

"So."

Vincent looked up. "So?"

"So…how did you end up in there?"

"I…don't know. I have no idea. The last thing I remember is being attacked by Heartless in Tortuga…and I told Shera to go, to save herself, and then…it all went dark. The next thing I knew, you were looking at me."

Donald piped up, "Do you have any idea what _might_ have happened?"

Vincent shook his head, sending long strands of ebony hair swirling about his shoulders. "No, I mean, I thought I was dead…surely Ansem had no use for me, so I thought he just wanted me dead."

The Trinity jumped in their seated positions. "**_Ansem_**?"

Vincent didn't look up. "Yes, the false King of the Bastion," he snapped viciously, "Commander of the Heartless, traitor to the human race, and most appallingly," he paused, "My cousin."

Sora was shocked. The thought of Ansem having any kind of family had never occurred to him. "You sure about that?"

Vincent raised his eyebrow. "Yes…why wouldn't I be? My cousin is the reason the universe is the way it is."

Donald coughed lightly. "Well, he _was_ the reason."

Sora nodded. "I don't know how to say this…but he's dead. Ansem was consumed by the darkness. I was there."

Vincent gripped Sora's shoulders with sudden force, peering into Sora's blue eyes with his own intense red. "What? How could you…who _are_ you?"

Sora shrugged. "I'm kind of the Keyblade Master. I go around defeating evil and…stuff."

Vincent sucked in a breath, and released Sora from his grip. "And you defeated that imposter, that…murderer?"

Sora was a little bit scared by the sheer venom that entered the man's voice when he spoke of Ansem, but he nodded. "With my friends' help."

"How long have I been gone? Well, you wouldn't know, but how long has it been since the Bastion fell?"

Sora counted in his head. "Well, about nine and a half years."

"That makes seven years unaccounted for. Frightening. Anyway, I thank you all for defeating Ansem, but I must admit, I would have liked to take my revenge on him myself."

"Revenge?" Goofy asked, in his blunt manner. "What did he do ta you?"

Vincent stood, crossing over to the viewport. "Look at this," he said. "The stars are still going out. If that man…if he hadn't…he destroyed my world. He possibly killed my best friend, broke so many hearts, and he…he killed my wife, and my son."

Vincent's voice had broken, and he was leaning against the bulwark. Goofy placed a large hand on his shoulder. "I'm so…I'm so sorry." Sora was surprised to note that his tall companion sounded more adult than he ever had before. The boy shot Donald a confused look, and the duck just shook his head. _Not now._

Vincent sighed heavily. "In any case, I'm glad he's gone. But…what happens now?"

Sora shrugged again. "No clue. We're still searching for someone."

He went on to explain their general mission, and, tentatively, began to tell his story, from the Destiny Islands onward. Vincent seemed to enjoy the tale, leaning back and closing his eyes. Sora felt good that he could help this tortured soul, even a little bit.

"- and then, I went into this shop, to look for Kairi and Riku, and that's where I met this old guy, well, maybe not old, but old enough to be my dad, and his name was Cid. He was really grumpy and all that stuff, and…"

Vincent opened his eyes. "Cid, you say? What did he look like?"

"Big, blond, he had goggles on, he liked to chew on a toothpick. He told me it was because he quit-."

"Because he quite smoking," Vincent interrupted, interested. "Where was he from, I mean, before Traverse Town?"

"He was from…hey, he was from the Hollow Bastion, just like Yuffie, and Aerith, and Leon. They were the other people in Traverse Town."

Vincent smiled for the first time since his coffin was opened. "I can't believe it. Cid's alive. And little Yuffie, and…Leon must be Squall. I don't know the Aerith girl, but that's amazing. Where are they now?"

Sora grinned. "They went back to the Hollow Bastion after I sealed it. They're probably still there. I could take you to them, if we could find our way back."

Donald opened his beak to protest, but thought better of it. Maybe going back to the Bastion would give them valuable clues to help them save the King.

Vincent seemed a bit distraught. "To go back there…so many ghosts. But, to find the living, I suppose sometimes we must put the dead to rest."

Sora wished Vincent wouldn't talk about death quite so much, but other than that, the man was awfully polite and nice. _Who knows? Maybe we've found a new friend. I still want to ask about that claw, but I don't think he'd appreciate it. He reminds of Riku like that. He has his secrets._

Goofy chuckled. "Well, if we're goin' back, we'd best get ta work. It won't be easy figuring out the route by hand!"

Donald nodded. "I'll help, if you two want to get some sleep."

Sora yawned. A nap was in order. Vincent, however, shook his head. "I shall attempt to assist you all in this. I've had enough sleep for a while, thank you."

"Suit yourself," said the duck, as they all headed to the cockpit. Sora went into the back to take a nap. Donald still felt a bit uneasy about the man. _Seven years he can't remember? And one thing's for sure: he's not normal._

_Then what is he?_

…

A/N: Wow. It thickens. Review if you want more. To figure out what's up with Vincent, first consider his FF7 condition. Then read my prequel story to see the forces plotting against our friend. And yeah, his wife and son are in that too. It's a twisted storyline that you just have to follow, please! And review.


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